WARNING: VACCHO advises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that the following contains references to those who have returned to the Dreaming.
VACCHO demands that the Victorian Government urgently invests in a self-determined ACCO-led model of custodial health and wellbeing care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in custody.
This call was echoed by Coroner Sarah Gebert in one of the 16 recommendations handed down in the coronial inquest into the death of Aboriginal woman Heather Calgaret.
Coroner Gebert said “not only was Heather’s passing preventable, she should never have passed how she did”, acknowledging Heather’s passing as yet another failing of the current so-called justice system.
VACCHO CEO Dr Jill Gallagher AO, says the prison system continues to fail Aboriginal people and neglects to provide culturally safe and clinically adequate health and wellbeing care.
“How many more Aboriginal lives need to be lost before the Victorian government and the correction system is held to account? How many more reports and recommendations do we need calling for urgent action? Enough is enough!” Dr Gallagher said.
“Aboriginal-led care is the only solution to prevent more Aboriginal people from having their lives cut so devastatingly short.”
Heather was a Yamatji, Noongar, Wongi and Pitjantjatjara woman was only 30 years old when she died in custody at Sunshine Hospital in November 2021 after being found in a critical condition at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre Prison. She had been eligible for parole since 27 December 2020 and had submitted a parole application on 12 May 2020. Heather was denied parole on 12 October 2021 due to lack of suitable accommodation.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody made recommendations to better protect Aboriginal people in Australia but Dr Gallagher says Aboriginal people continue to die at the hands of a broken system.
“We are still here calling for those recommendations to be implemented while our Communities continue to lose their loved ones,” Dr Gallagher said.
Since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991, multiple reviews and investigations have recommended the development of an Aboriginal-led model of custodial healthcare.
Coroner Gebert highlighted that Heather never had access to culturally safe healthcare and at the time of her incarceration, there were no Aboriginal health workers at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre Prison.
“We know that placing healthcare in Aboriginal hands for Aboriginal people in custodial settings will break the cycles of harm. Through holistic, culturally appropriate health and wellbeing care, we can meet the needs of Aboriginal people in custody and consequently reduce the number of tragic deaths like Heather’s,” Dr Gallagher said.
VACCHO would like to extend its deepest condolences to the families of Heather Calgaret and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families that have been impacted as a result of these ongoing systemic failures.
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